Varner wins Pan Am wrestling gold

USA Wrestling

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Former Iowa State national champion Jake Varner is one of two U.S. wrestlers who won gold medals on the last day of Pan American Games wrestling competition.

Varner won at 211.5 pounds and 2011 World Champion Jordan Burroughs of Lincoln, Neb., won at 163, beating Yunierki Blanco of Cuba in the finals, 3-2, 3-2.

Varner won his gold medal match over Luis Vivenes of Venezuela, 6-0, 2-0. Varner earned a first-period technical fall, then controlled the action to close out the match in the second.

“I went out and did what I had to do to win,” Varner said. “You can always wrestle better. You can critique yourself pretty hard, but I did what I had to do.”

Varner did not allow a single point in his three matches, outscoring his opponents, 24-0. Varner won his first match against Israel Silva of Mexico, 2-0, 5-0. In the semifinals, Varner stopped Khetag Pliev of Canada, 3-0, 6-0.

“When people can't score, you are in control of the match,” he said. “Sometimes, people do score on you. Fortunately for me in this tournament, I wrestled my match, stuck to my game plan and it worked out for me.”

The United States won the medal standings in men's freestyle, as well as the unofficial team standings. It finished with six medalists.